Modular Fence System

ABSTRACT

A modular landscaping and gardening fence system having a plurality of panels which fasten together by a rod which also serves to stake the fence into the ground, is disclosed. The panels include first and second edges with alternating hooked and open sections such that the two opposing edges of separate panels may be joined together via a rod. The fence system may be readily erected, altered and removed. The fence system may be easily expanded or contracted by changing the number of panels used.

RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims the Nov. 18, 2009 filing priority ofProvisional Application No. 61/262,413, titled “Modular Fence System”and hereby incorporates the same by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present device relates to a fence system for use in protectinggardens, young saplings trees, and the like. Specifically, the devicerelates to a modular fence system for use in assorted landscapingprojects.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In today's growing “green” movement, gardening of all kinds and treeplanting have become popular occurrences in rural, suburban and evenurban communities. Gardens are known to be expensive to maintain due notonly to the cost of plants but also due to the need for upkeep andprotection. Likewise, newly planted trees can be quickly and easilydestroyed if not well-protected early on. One challenge that gardenersand tree-growers have faced is preventing animals from damaging theirplants. In particular, gnawing and chewing animals such as rabbits areknown to cause substantial damage to gardens by infiltrating the gardensand eating the plants.

Fencing off gardens and tree growing areas is a well-known deterrent andfences are often erected in an attempt to discourage or prevent animalsfrom entering a garden or getting close to a tree-sapling. However, manyfences can be difficult to install, particularly for those with littleor no experience in fence building, because of special skills andphysical strength which may be required to build them. Also, fencebuilding is time consuming, and in many cases may require expensive,specialized tools. Moreover, many fences require gates to be installedin the fence, which requires moving parts and additional skill toinstall. Traditional fences also are permanent, so that they may be hardto work around during yard work, such as mowing a lawn or tilling agarden.

Wire fencing has been used to prevent animals from infiltrating yardareas, but the fencing comes in heavy rolls which can be difficult tohandle and the assembly of which very often requires several specialposts to be driven into the ground for attachment of the resilientfencing to retain a desired shape. Other known wire fencing can beflimsy, easily damaged, and may be limited for use over only one growingseason.

The present invention overcomes these and many other disadvantages ofprevious fences and fencing devices. The present system provides afencing assembly which is easy to construct, effective against manygnawing and chewing garden pests, inexpensive and readily adjustable tosurround any size and shape area needed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

There is disclosed herein an improved modular fence system which avoidsthe disadvantages of prior devices while affording additional structuraland operating advantages.

Generally speaking, the present fence system comprises a plurality ofpanels having first and second edges, the first and second edgesincluding alternating hooked sections and open sections, the hookedsections and open sections being offset between the first and secondedges such that the hook sections of the first edge align with the opensections of the second edge and vice versa, and a post for engaging thehook sections and connecting a first edge of a first panel with a secondedge of another panel. The system is configured such that a postconnecting two panels by the hooked sections forms a hinge joint betweenthe two panels.

It is an aspect of an embodiment of the invention wherein the pluralityof panels are comprised of a plurality of crisscrossing metal wires or aplurality of crisscrossing plastic wires. Preferably, in otherembodiments the hooked sections are extensions of the crisscrossingwires. Further, each hooked section comprises at least four extendingwires wherein at least two wires are curved in a first direction and atleast two wires are curved in a second direction opposite the firstdirection to form a retaining hinge.

These and other aspects of the invention may be understood more readilyfrom the following description and the appended drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For the purpose of facilitating an understanding of the subject mattersought to be protected, there are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings embodiments thereof, from an inspection of which, whenconsidered in connection with the following description, the subjectmatter sought to be protected, its construction and operation, and manyof its advantages should be readily understood and appreciated.

FIG. 1 is a partial front view of an embodiment of a panel in accordancewith the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial front view of an embodiment of the present systemshowing two panels connected by a post;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present modularfencing system erected in a three-sided configuration;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present modularfencing system erected in a six panel per side square configuration;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an embodiment showing a partial panel ina curved configuration; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an embodiment showing a partial panelbent to form an angle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

While this invention is susceptible of embodiments in many differentforms, there is shown in the attachments and will herein be described indetail a preferred embodiment of the invention with the understandingthat the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification ofthe principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the broadaspect of the invention to embodiments illustrated.

Referring to FIGS. 1-6, there is illustrated multiple embodiments of amodular fence system, generally designated by the numeral 10. The fencesystem 10 is described herein as usable for the purpose of protectingplants from pests such as rabbits and the like. While shown in a limitednumber of sizes, it should be understood that the present fence system10 can be designed in almost an unlimited number of size choices, aswill be more clearly described below.

The fence system 10 is comprised of a plurality of wire panels 12connected one to another by a post 14. The post 14 is preferably hooked22 at one end with a pointed, flat tip 24 or other type of edge at anopposite end for inserting into the soil. The post 14 is shown as athin, solid metal rod, but may be a hollow tube and the post 14 may beconstructed from any number of materials, including plastics, alloys,composite material, or the like. The post 14 should have a length,measured from the top of the hooked end to the tip, greater than theheight of the panels 12 for which it is to be used. The increased lengthof the post 14 is to allow for a determined extent to be inserted intothe ground for securing of the fencing system 10.

Each panel 12 of the system 10 is comprised of thin, metal wirespreferably woven in a manner to achieve a substantially rigid, yetbendable panel surface. The panels 12 include a first side edge 32 and asecond side edge 34. Each edge 32 and 34 includes alternating hookedsections 16 and open sections 18 to create a crenellated appearance. Thehooked sections 16 and open sections 18 are preferably offset betweenthe first and second edges so as to align one with the other when afirst side edge 32 is abutted with a second side edge 34. Thisconfiguration allows the two opposing edges of different panels—i.e., afirst edge of one panel and a second edge of another panel—to align allthe hooked sections 16 to all the open sections 18.

As shown in FIG. 1, each hooked section 16 includes a plurality of wireextensions 20, four are shown with short cross-wires, the ends of whichare formed to accept the insertion of post 14. Preferably, the two endwire extensions 20A and 20D are bowed or curved in one direction, whilethe middle two wire extensions 20B and 20C are bowed or curved in theopposite direction. The wire extensions 20A-D may be bowed inalternating, block, or random configurations, so long as each hookedsection 16 includes at least one wire extension, and preferably two wireextensions, bowed in each direction.

The open sections 18 are preferably slightly larger in area than thehooked sections 16, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. This gives each of theconnected panels 12 some freedom to move up/down with the terrain. Forexample, each hooked section 16 is three wire blocks long, while eachopen section 18 is five wire blocks long. Each is only two blocks wide,but may be made wider if desired. In fact, each section may be of almostany desired length and width. These open sections 18 are easily made (orincreased) from the panels 12 by removing the desired number of wireblocks.

By coupling two panels together at the hooked sections 16 using a post14, the panels 12 are hinged together and may be positioned at variousangles to one another based on the desired shape of the fencing system10 (see FIGS. 3 and 4). The post 14 slides into the alternating bowedwires of each hooked section 16 of the adjoined panels. To close theloop of panels, if desired, the second edge 34 of the last panel iscoupled to the first edge 32 of the first panel. Alternatively, thefirst and last edges may be attached to or merely abut a surface of anadjacent structure, such as a building or fence. As previouslymentioned, with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, each of the panels 12 iseasily bendable to form curved surfaces or sharp corners, if necessary.For very large areas, as shown in FIG. 4, adjoining several panels atangles may achieve the desired shape.

As mentioned above, the post 14 has two ends, an end for insertion intothe ground 24 and a hooked end 22. The post 14 is also substantiallylonger than the height of the panel 12. The extra length of the post 4allows the flat end of the post 14, which may include a point for veryhard ground surfaces, to be forced into the ground to secure the fencein place. The hooked end of the post 14 prevents the panels 12 frombeing accidentally removed from the free end of the post 14 while in useor during installation.

The matter set forth in the foregoing description and accompanyingdrawings is offered by way of illustration only and not as a limitation.While particular embodiments have been shown and described, it will beapparent to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications maybe made without departing from the broader aspects of applicants'contribution. The actual scope of the protection sought is intended tobe defined in the following claims when viewed in their properperspective based on the prior art.

1. A modular fence system comprising: a plurality of panels having firstand second edges, the first and second edges including alternatinghooked sections and open sections, the hooked sections and open sectionsbeing offset between the first and second edges such that the hooksections of the first edge align with the open sections of the secondedge and vice versa; and a post for engaging the hook sections andconnecting a first edge of a first panel with a second edge of anotherpanel; wherein a post connecting two panels by the hooked sections formsa hinge joint between the two panels.
 2. The modular fence system ofclaim 1, wherein the plurality of panels are comprised of a plurality ofcrisscrossing metal wires.
 3. The modular fence system of claim 1,wherein the plurality of panels are comprised of a plurality ofcrisscrossing plastic wires.
 4. The modular fence system of claim 2,wherein the hooked sections are extensions of the crisscrossing wires.5. The modular fence system of claim 4, wherein each hooked sectioncomprises at least four extending wires wherein at least two wires arecurved in a first direction and at least two wires are curved in asecond direction opposite the first direction to form a retaining hinge.6. The modular fence system of claim 1, wherein a length of the post issubstantially greater than a height of each of the plurality of panels.7. The modular fence system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of panelsare bendable.
 8. The modular fence system of claim 7, wherein theplurality of panels are curvable.
 9. The modular fence system of claim1, wherein the open sections are larger than the hooked sections.
 10. Amodular fence system comprising: a plurality of wire panels each panelhaving a first and a second edge, the first and second edges includingalternating wire hooked sections and open sections, the hooked sectionsand open sections being offset between the first and second edges, andthe hooked sections including at least two opposing wire hooks to form aretaining hinge; and a post for connecting a first edge of a first panelwith a second edge of another panel by engaging the retaining hinges ofeach panel, wherein an angle formed between adjacent panels isadjustable.
 11. The modular fence system of claim 10, wherein theplurality of panels are comprised of a plurality of crisscrossing metalwires.
 12. The modular fence system of claim 10, wherein the pluralityof panels are comprised of a plurality of crisscrossing plastic wires.13. The modular fence system of claim 11, wherein the hooked sectionsare extensions of the crisscrossing wires.
 14. The modular fence systemof claim 13, wherein each hooked section comprises at least fourextending wires wherein at least two wires are curved in a firstdirection and at least two wires are curved in a second directionopposite the first direction to form a retaining hinge.
 15. The modularfence system of claim 10, wherein a length of the post is substantiallygreater than a height of each of the plurality of panels.
 16. Themodular fence system of claim 10, wherein the plurality of panels arebendable.
 17. The modular fence system of claim 16, wherein theplurality of panels are curvable.
 18. The modular fence system of claim10, wherein the open sections are larger than the hooked sections.